Three months and counting!

Did you know that babies don’t produce tears for a while?  Nope, when they cry, it’s a dry wail.  While others might give you more scientific reasonings behind this, I believe that God, in His merciful kindness, created babies this way to give new parents a period of grace before seeing their infants’ first tears.

Bennett turned three months old today.  His first tears came between his second and third month.  The wetness doesn’t really roll down his cheeks yet (thank the Lord or my heart might burst), but rather the tears just seem to wet the eyes or collect at the corners.

Here are a few more changes that took place in the last month:

• He experienced his first bout with illness.  Though it was a pathetic sight, it didn’t last more than a week.
• Sleep developed more consistency and routine, quite on accident really.  Interestingly enough, God used our sickness for good because it was during that time that I really had to put Bennett down in his crib more so that I could rest and recover myself.  Prior to our both being sick, the only way that Brian, Bennett and I got the most sleep was for me to sleep in the recliner in the nursery with Bennett in my arms.  First of all, Bennett wasn’t waking Brian up.  Second of all, because I wasn’t getting out of bed to check on Bennett’s breathing and to nurse him, I wasn’t as strongly disrupting my own sleep because he was literally RIGHT there.  We practically both slept while he nursed, barely having to readjust ourselves.  And, as it turned out, Bennett HATED being swaddled and he HATED sleeping on his back (both of which are advised these days), resulting in him only getting short stretches of sleep when I tried to follow the rules.  But when he was in my arms, he could be unswaddled and belly down on my chest, giving him more rest (which gave me more rest).

Being that I seemed to be breaking all the rules for the sake of more rest (Co-sleeping!  Unswaddled!  Belly down!  Oh my!), I had concerns in the back of my head as to when we’d be able to undo these habits and how painful it would be.  I should have never worried.  One night I was so sick that I had the chills and asked Brian to take over for the entire evening till morn so that I could sleep uninterrupted in bed.  The morning found me much improved and Bennett has happily slept in his crib ever since.  Yes, he’s still sleeping belly down, but I could see that he had great neck control prior to making that choice.

• He began growing out of most of his newborn sized clothes.  The first clothes to go were the ones that had legs.
• He began making direct eye contact and breaking into toothless grins!
• He’s developed an awestruck wonder for the television.  (Lord, help me.)
• More fat is accumulating in his arms… finally.
• While he can’t quite focus on an object and successfully grab it (unless assisted), that doesn’t stop him from trying.  His hands are particularly exploratory during diaper changes… if ya know what I mean.
• His vocabulary of strict grunting has developed more word-like tones and noises.  He enjoys the opportunity to gurgle his word-like sounds, but it’s especially hilarious when he chooses to do this while nursing.  I’ve heard myself say things like, “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” and “Finish your vegetables!”

Finally, between Bennett’s second and third month, I’ve come to accept that fact that I’m going to look thirty when I turn thirty in July.  Smiles linger on my face for such long stretches that my facial muscles actually feel strained sometimes.  Those laugh lines and crows’ feet will be here in no time.  But it’s totally worth it.